| Author | Message | ||
| Colleentinker |
DarrellóI respect your incisiveness and respect for details and accuracy. I'll just address my understanding of Jesus and the "Lord of the Sabbath" statements. First, Jesus was saying that He is bigger, greater than the Sabbath. He is in charge of Sabbath. He had the authority to break or redefine the Sabbath laws. The Sabbath was always about rest in Christ, even when Israel was given the commandment. They were to rest one in seven while their neighbors worked hard for success and for the approval of their gods. Only Israel had a God who made them successful while they rested. Form the time the Commandments were given, Sabbath always pointed to Jesus, as did every other part of the Old Covenant symbolism. The sanctuary represented Jesus; the shewbread respresented Jesus, the bread of life; the priests represented Jesus; the sacrifices represented Jesus; the scapegoat represented Jesus; the laver represented washing and declaring ourselves in Jesus; everything was about Jesus. Now that we're in the New Covenant we can see that all of the OT symbols have been fulfilled in Jesus. The one symbol we now-or-one-time-Adventists have trouble identifying with Jesus is the Sabbath. Hebrews 4 really shows that Jesus is Sabbath rest. It's powerful: "Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, 'So I declared on oath in my anger, "They shall never enter my rest." ' "And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: 'And on the seventh day God rested from all his work.' And again in the passage above he says, 'They shall never enter my rest.' "It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.' "For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience." This passage in Hebrews makes it clear that Sabbath is bigger than time. God has declared another Day for us to enter Sabbath rest. We enter it whenever we accept the finished work of Christ. As the above passage points out, those who heard the gospel but did not accept it with faith "shall never enter my rest." But God, the author continues, has been finished with his work since the creation of the world. "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work." That is Hebrews 4:4 quoting Genesis 2:2. It's interesting to notice that the statement above is a declaration of fact. It is not a command to anyone. Now, since Jesus has mended the sin-generated tear in the universe that separated us from God, we can again be one with Him through the indwelling Holy Spirit. Now we can enter the Sabbath-rest of Christ's finished work. We enter the eternal Sabbath rest which God entered at the creation of the world. We no longer have to live like strangers. We are God's, and He is intimate with us. We no longer need a time-bound reminder to honor God and our redeemer. A time-bound holy day is antithetical to an eternal, real, living oneness with God. Accepting Christ puts our souls in touch with eternity. It's not just a metaphor or a symbol; the indwelling Holy Spirit gives us eternal life now. We are living in rest, worship, and intimacy with Him nowóand we will forever! We will not be bound by time when we are resurrected and live with the Lord. Yet Sabbathórest in Christówill persist. A time-bound day makes no sense in a new earth where there is also a new heaven, and the former things are passed away. So, when our spirits enter eternity with Christ when we accept Him by faith, we also enter the eternal Sabbath: rest in the finished work of Jesus. That Sabbath we will celebrate eternally. Jesus said he was Lord of the Sabbath because He is. Because He is our Sabbath, he alone had the authority to declare a weekly "type" of Sabbath for people to observe before He, the archetypal Sabbath, came to make the symbol a living reality. He alone could define Sabbath behavior while He and His desciples were still under the law. He alone could restore us to the unbroken Sabbath which Adam and Eve had before they sinned. He alone could say, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) Rest in Christ is so much more satisfying than the day ever was, and I used to love the day! But living with the real, living Christ and His Spirit is infinetely better! | ||
| Lynn W |
Darrell, I'll start with an illustration from the military. There are Privates; there are Sargents. The Sargents are in charge over the Privates. There are Captains; the Captains have authority over the Sargents, AND the Privates. And so on up the line till you the reach the General who is in charge of everyone of any rank below him. So a Private must salute and take orders from not only his Sargent, but also the General if he demands it. But there is one person in charge over all. He's called The Commander-in-Chief. We call him the President of the U.S. So, when I make the statement, "The President has authority over the General," Am I saying that the President has authority ONLY over the general, & not over the Privates, Sargents, etc.? To the Jews, there was no higher institution on earth than the Sabbath. Put the verse back in it's context & see why Jesus said it in the first place. Those Pharisees wanted Him to be submissive to the Sabbath. He claimed to be Lord over EVEN the sabbath day. (Matt 12:8) Mark 2:28 says, He is Lord ALSO of the sabbath. These are both INclusive words. You have made the common SDA mistake of making them EXclusive words. If you have a passage that says that Jesus is Lord ONLY of the Sabbath, I'd like to see it. Also, what day is Jesus NOT Lord of? | ||
| Lynn W |
In Jude 9, Michael said, "The Lord rebuke you." But in Matt 4:10, Jesus Himself said, "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." He did not need to defer to the Lord, because He IS Lord. In Matt 16:23 & Mark 8:33, He said, "Get thee behind me, Satan:" | ||
| Darrell |
Colleen, thank you for your thoughtful reply. This passage in Hebrews is powerful, and I also believe it applies to a Sabbath-rest in Jesus, a ceasing from our labors to attain salvation and trusting in the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Anyone who misses this spiritual meaning of the Sabbath while "keeping" the 7th day has the shadow, but not the substance. However, the Sabbath seems to be unique in that it at the same time looks back and forward, for example, in Exodus 20 it looks back to creation while looking forward to the new creation, and in Leviticus 5 it looks back to the deliverance from Egypt, and at the same time looks forward to deliverance from sin in Jesus. Compare this with the sacrificial system which only looked forward to the one sacrifice: Jesus. I can't say I understand this difference completely, but I think it is significant in separating the Sabbath from the Levitical system. Lynn, I have not said, implied, nor do I believe that Jesus is Lord only of the Sabbath, nor do I see where such an idea could have come from. The Bible says that Jesus is Lord over all, and that at His name every created being in the universe will bow. | ||
| Lynn W |
Darrell, I'm sorry. I obviously misunderstood you point in stating, "However, in Matt. 12:8, Mark 2:28, and Luke 6:5 Jesus calls Himself "Lord of the Sabbath" which in the clear context is the 7th day." Could you explain this connection for me? I trust I can assume that leaving out the word "only" in your quote was an oversight in your case, but that is the ONLY way I've EVER heard it quoted or wtitten by ANY Adventist. | ||
| Lynn W |
Sorry, I meant to say leaving out the word "also." | ||
| Ernie |
Darrell: At the heart of your question lays a more important matter than the Sabbath. The question is, can we separate the Sabbath from the entire Torah? Or, can we keep one section of the Torah and not the rest? The Bible declares the Sabbath as the signal of God's special relationship with the nation of Israel (Ex. 31:15-18). It was part of the Old Covenant that God established between Himself and Israel. Therefore, it's included in Hebrews 8:13 when the writer says: "By calling this covenant 'new,' he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear." The lordship of Jesus over the Sabbath (Mk. 2:28), establishes just the fact that His authority has command over Sabbath to do whatever He wants to do with it. It is important to understand the Sabbath within its context, the Old Covenant. It is true that it looks back to the time of Creation and also to the liberation from Egypt. However, for us the events related to the Cross and the empty tomb have supreme importance. That's why we celebrate the memorial of His death and His return in the Lord's Supper. We also celebrate His death and resurrection in baptism. In celebrating the Lord's Supper, we are taken to the Cross and its liberating power by the blodd of Jesus, and foresee by faith the New Creation that we are awaiting at His Second Coming. Therefore, I do not need elements and celebrations from the Old Covenant as memorials since we live under the New Covenant, which has its proper signs and symbols, in force after the death and resurrection of Christ. God bless you, Ernie |
